Every person, place or thing has a name… remember, from grammar class? It’s hard to believe that our little reader must learn this at such a young age, but don’t fret, they’ve learned this skill as a baby. After all, they 
learned you were mommy or daddy, right? Names in books, however, can be a real pistol because not all authors realize picking fancy names are not practical for young readers. I must admit, I am one of those writers. It’s not that I wasn’t thinking about young readers… I simply didn’t want to pick an ordinary name. So what do we do with names? Well, some people would say you should try to sound them out…which will work for some names but not others. And others would tell you to simply tell the child the name. I recommend both. But here’s the thing, you as a parent, must know the skills of your child. If they have not mastered the sounds of letters than sounding out a name will not work. Here’s what I suggest:
- Pick out a Game Book from the ten you brought home.
- Using a sticky note, write your child’s name and your name down, each on it’s own note. Talk about what you see. For example, my name is Vikki. I see two “K’s and two “I’s.” I’d ask my child what sound do they make? I’d ask what sound does the V make? I’d be positive and encouraging and say, “Let’s try to put them all together like they are written. “Va- ii-ki-ki-ii” Now let’s pretend the name is a train… we will start out slow saying the sounds and speed up until we have put all the sounds together to make VIKKI.
- What if the name is long and complicated? My daughter’s name is Samantha. This one is a bit tougher because its long. BUT there are a few skills that you as the parent must think about to help your child, here they are:
- Find a word inside the name (this case: man)
- Find two or three letters that walk together to make one sound (this case: th)
- Find a smaller name inside the name (this case: Sam)
- Find little words inside the name (this case: am, an, ant)
- Break up the name in letters of three (this case: Sam ant ha)
- Once you have dissected the name, let your child guess at the name. You’ll be surprised how close they get to the actual name if they don’t get it on the first try.
- Now there will be names that make no sense at all. Like Myashia or Orphilia or Keith. Feel free to say these names to your child… BUT they must write the name down three times, saying the name as they write so that they will remember it when they see it in the book. (***Always Always encourage your child to say, write, think three time in a row. The brain does not retain things its heard only once. 3 is the magic number!!)
Now let’s play a game with the names of the book:
- Write down all the names found in the book on their own sticky note
- On a white sheet of paper, stick the sticky note on the top part of the paper
- Give your child three colored pencils and have them write everything they see in the name in a descending order (like a Christmas Tree) until they have figured out the name. Remove the sticky note and have the child write the full name above the Tree they have made. (The key here is to give them a sense of accomplishment by writing the name…)
- When all the names have been figured out or written – Take the paper and place it in the book for future reference and move on to the next book. Remember, we are learning parts of the book before we sit down and read the book.
